Automated manufacturing is widespread in multiple industries, including for example the automotive industry, the aeronautic industry, etc. The use of computer-controlled manufacturing devices (e.g. robots) instead of humans for performing specific manufacturing tasks has several advantages. For instance, a computer-controlled manufacturing device may be more productive than a human for performing simple repetitive manufacturing tasks. And a computer-controlled manufacturing device may be more effective than a human for performing complex manufacturing tasks requiring a high level of accuracy.
A specific type of manufacturing operation consists in performing a finishing operation on a manufactured component at an intermediate stage, in order to obtain a manufactured component at a final stage. This finishing operation is performed by a dedicated finishing tool. Blades are an example of manufactured components which may require a finishing operation. Blades are used in the aeronautic or the energy industries, and are critical components for these industries. Thus, very strict requirements are applied to the shape of specific sections of a blade, like for example the edge of a blade. Finishing operations, performed by dedicated finishing tools, are usually necessary to obtain the final shape of the blade. Such finishing operations include for example profiling and/or polishing.
The finishing tool may be operated by a human, or may be automatically controlled. For example, the finishing tool may follow the surface of the component (or vice-versa), and remove a specific amount of material from the surface of the component (the amount may vary based on the current position of the finishing tool on the surface). However, the precision of the finishing operation may not be sufficient, and a significant amount of rework may be needed, in order to comply with specifications of the finished component.
Furthermore, the finishing tool may be used to finish different types of components, each having its own requirements.
At the moment, a finishing recipe for automatically controlled finishing tool is obtained by successive trial and errors performed by one or several operators, until a ‘good enough’ finishing recipe is obtained. The trial and errors require operator and equipment time, and the finishing recipe is appropriate as long as the components to be finished remain within a certain range of variations.
Therefore, there is a need for a computer-implemented method for automatically determining a finishing recipe of a manufactured component, which overcomes the aforementioned limitations.